CEO Burger War

Right now, we are living in scary times: gas prices are skyrocketing, countries are fighting amongst each other, and we Californians might even be under attack. All of this content is getting a lot of coverage by news outlets as rumors are flying left to right. However, in times of “war” like these, we must focus on what wars truly deserve our attention, and that is none other than the CEO burger war. Sure it may not involve bombs and nuclear warfare, but it sure is blowing up the charts and going viral.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a video of himself trying their new “Big Arch Burger”. In said video, he takes what he calls a “big bite” of the burger, but in reality the size of the bite was compared to that of a toddler’s, and as a result, the internet began to mock him severely. In addition, his reactions to the burger were clearly scripted, bearing an inauthentic and awkward tone. Many even believe that the CEO did not desire to take a bite of the burger for someone of his standing wouldn’t go so low as to eat fast food meals, especially since he uses the word “product” and not burger when describing it, and since viewers noticed a jump cut, indicating that he may have spit out the food rather than consuming it.

Above all these memes that emerged from the video, the cherry on top were the responses by other CEOs of companies, some being rivals while others just wanting to hop onto the trends. Most notably, Wendy's and Burger King CEOs were quick to post their own videos trying their food, but this time, they made sure to do it right. Wendy’s video showcased their CEO cooking their “Bacanator” himself, garnering a lot of relatability to viewers. He even disses McDonald’s who are known for their broken ice cream machines, saying, “our machines are always working”, throwing more fuel and fun into this lighthearted conflict. Similarly, Burger King’s video showed their own CEO eating the “Whopper” with a hearty bite, not cuts, and a casual atmosphere to the video as a whole, making the moment even more real when compared to what McDonald's had posted.

Now, many different company CEOs are getting a taste of their own “products” while other people online post parody videos of them taking ridiculously small bites of food. Even though the authenticity of McDonald’s video wasn’t exactly as grand as they’re painting out the Big Arch Burger to be, at least they made a big enough impact to recent trends that have given them the popularity they originally aimed for.